When a chimpanzee mother carries her dead baby for weeks, is she grieving her loss? When elephants tenderly caress the bones and tusks of deceased family members, are they mourning? What about cats and dogs that become listless and refuse to eat after a companion dies? I take a. . . Read More

In my latest article for BrainDecoder, I take a look at cases of people missing parts of their brains: major structures, like the cerebellum, and sometimes more. How do they survive, often without even knowing anything is amiss? Read the whole story: Read More

For a long time, it was thought that empathy was unique to primates, or even humans. But in the past few years, several experiments seem to indicate rats and mice feel each other’s pain, too. Read my story about the scientific evidence for empathy in rodents at. . . Read More

As mammals, dogs and cats share a lot of anatomy with humans. This extends to their brains. Our pets’ brains are similar to ours in a lot of ways, but also have their own specializations that make them unique. Read my story on Brain Decoder to learn more: Read More